Dams are losing storage capacity at a rate of 0.5% per year due to siltation, equivalent to irrigating at least 10,000 hectares annually. In response, Morocco's High Commission for Water, Forest and Combating Desertification developed a National Watershed Management Plan from 1990-1996 with international organizations and national stakeholders. Many watershed management projects have been implemented under this plan using participatory and partnership approaches to promote integrated local development and natural resource management. These projects represent essential elements of national water and rural development strategies by improving rural livelihoods while conserving natural resources and promoting sustainable development. They are also key to combating desertification by addressing soil erosion.

1. T7
Title: “WATERSHED MANAGEMENT: AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT OF
SUSTAINABLE WATER MANAGEMENT”
BY: Abdelkrim EL MAJOUDI (Head of water and soil conservation and Forest
Protection Division/ High Commission For Water, Forest and Combating
Desertification)
ABSTRACT
Dams loss storage capacity due to silting is estimated at 75 million m3, or 0.5% per
year. Which is equivalent to irrigate at least 10,000 ha / year. Given this situation, the
HCEFLCD has undertaken between 1990 and 1996, in collaboration with international
organizations and the participation of all national stakeholders, the development of a National
Watershed Management Plan (NWMP) that stays intervention priorities. Within the
framework of this NWMP, many watershed management projects are implemented. These
projects are based on participatory and partnership approach aiming the promotion of a
dynamic integrated local development based on the organization and ownership by the natural
resources users of water and soil conservation practical management (techniques for not only
reducing erosion but also increases of the infiltration process.)
Through their objectives, these projects represent an essential element of the national
water and rural development strategies, in that they help to improve living conditions of rural
populations, while ensuring the natural resources conservation and sustainable development.
They also are essential components in the fight against desertification, as they are concerned
with a central issue of this desertification, namely soil erosion.
KEY WORD:
Climate change, water erosion, Siltation, water and soil conservation technique, water
strategy, National water shed management Plan, Water strategy, Participatory approaches